Sterilisations in England have fallen by three quarters for women and vasectomies by over half for men in a decade, according to figures released today by The NHS Information Centre.

Between 1998/99 and 2008/09 the number of NHS sterilisations in hospitals fell from 48,200 to 12,000 for women (down from 14,300 in 2007/08). Male vasectomies in NHS hospitals or contraception clinics fell from 46,100 to 21,500 over the same period (down from 23,600 in 2007/08).

The report; NHS Contraceptive Services: England, 2009/10; also shows that the number of men visiting contraception clinics in England has nearly doubled between 1999/00 and 2009/10.

162,000 men visited a clinic in 2009/10 compared to 84,000 in 1999/00; an increase of 93 per cent. The latest number is also a 16 per cent (22,000) increase on 2008/09.

Women remain by far the biggest users of clinics – with about 1.2 million attending each year. The number using the service has remained relatively consistent over the last decade.

The report also shows:

• Among both men and women, 16 to-19-year-olds were most likely to visit a clinic. An estimated one in five women (281,000) and one in 25 men (55,000) among this age group visited a clinic in 2009/10.
• Use of Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) continued to increase, with more than a quarter of women visiting clinics in 2009/10 using them as their primary method of contraception. This compares to just under a quarter in the previous year and 18 per cent in 2003/04, when the data was first collected.

NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: “This report provides an insight into the changing use of contraception methods among English society.

“The big fall in the number of women opting for sterilisation and men opting for vasectomies indicates changes in a person's typical choice of contraception, and indeed the wider concept of attitudes towards family planning in this country.

“The report also shows that, while women are very much the main visitors to contraception clinics; men are now using the services more than they were, but there remains a very large gap between the sexes in attendance numbers every year.”

The report can be accessed at: statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/contraception

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The Information Centre (The NHS IC) is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with more than 300 health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researcher, regulators and policymakers in their work. The NHS IC also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.
2. Information on NHS community contraception clinic services (formerly family planning clinics) includes services provided by trusts in NHS clinics and as domiciliary visits and Brook services. Brook is a national voluntary sector provider of free and confidential sexual health advice and services, specifically for young people under 25.
3. Information on NHS community contraceptive services excludes services provided in out-patient clinics and those provided by General Practitioners. Limited data is presented for out-patient clinics sourced from The NHS Information Centre's Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), prescription data from the Prescription Services Division and survey data from ‘Contraception and Sexual Health 2008/09', a report published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of the NHS Information Centre. This is a sample survey of women aged 16 to 49 and men aged 16 to 69 in Great Britain, and gives an overview of all contraception used irrespective of whether it is provided by the NHS. It also asks about sexual behaviour and knowledge of sexually transmitted infections. This report is presently not being continued but remains the latest source.
4. LARCs include intra-uterine-devices (IUD), injectable contraception, implants and intra-uterine-systems (IUS).
5. Sexual and Reproductive Health Activity Dataset (SRHAD) will replace KT31 from 2013. The KT31 form is the return completed by NHS community contraceptive services. Quarterly and annual reports will be produced using the new dataset when national data are available.
6. For media enquires please call 0845 257 6990 or contact Kristina Fox on 0113 2547120 or kristina.fox@ic.nhs.uk